The letter was sent to Congress and Senate to urge them to ensure adequate funding for programs funded through annual appropriations, by continuing the bipartisan practice of providing relief from sequestration budget cuts and opposing any new efforts to cut these programs more deeply. These "nondefense discretionary" (NDD) programs serve many vital national needs but have been subject to repeated cuts over the past six years. Congress should avoid making further reductions in these programs and work to replace the scheduled sequestration cuts through a package that is balanced—both in how such relief is paid for and how it is applied to defense and NDD programs.

Letter to House Appropriations leaders to ensure the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) Youth formula program funding is left intact in the coming supplemental appropriations bill and oppose any new transfer authorities. National Youth Employment Coalition.

Letter to Senate Appropriations leaders to ensure the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) Youth formula program funding is left intact in the coming supplemental appropriations bill and oppose any new transfer authorities. National Youth Employment Coalition.

Letter to Sec. DeVos expressing strong support for robust enforcement of the regulation implementing the IDEA’s disproportionality requirements and opposition to any effort to delay its implementation. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

The letter to urge leaders of the Appropriations Committees to continue funding of federal innocence and forensic science programs at the Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the Department of Commerce in the final FY 2018 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. Innocence Project.

For more than four decades the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) has had a profound impact on how our youth justice systems operate. It has been more than ten years since the Act was reauthorized. This snapshot highlights the basics of what this law does and why it continues to be a critically important tool for helping young people and communities and furthering youth justice reform.

This report explains the unfavorable result of school policing, especially in low-income Black and Latino communities with the evidence from some states. Police is often seen using force or violence against youth, such as arresting and handcuffing students, even for minor crimes or misbehaviors. In addition, more presence of police in school including their presence in a classroom has increased fear among them. All these facts help support why schooling policing should be reconsidered.

Message to U.S. House of Representatives to suspend the 1033 program in a wake of the Trump administration’s revocation of President Obama’s 2015 Executive Order 13688 and its ensuing recommendations, which placed critical limits on federal programs that provide military equipment to law enforcement agencies, until Congress and the public understand—through Congressional hearings—what steps the federal government is taking to provide oversight and accountability of these programs amidst the racial tension in this country.

Message to U.S. Senate to suspend the 1033 program in a wake of the Trump administration’s revocation of President Obama’s 2015 Executive Order 13688 and its ensuing recommendations, which placed critical limits on federal programs that provide military equipment to law enforcement agencies, until Congress and the public understand—through Congressional hearings—what steps the federal government is taking to provide oversight and accountability of these programs amidst the racial tension in this country.

Letter to Representatives opposing a potential amendment to the FY17 appropriations bill that would repeal HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation, require HUD to use its limited resources to duplicate previous consultations with state and local governments about how to fulfill their fair housing obligations, and block access to government geo-spatial data. National Fair Housing Alliance.

Urges majority and minority leaders of House and Senate to keep the unique needs of children front and center and adopt a “do no harm” standard for children as they consider any changes to the nation’s health care system. Children’s Defense Fund.

Letter of Opposition to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Education and Reform act of 2017 (H.R. 620). H.R. 620 would create significant obstacles for people with disabilities to enforce their rights under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to access public accommodations, and would impede their ability to engage in daily activities and participate in the mainstream of society. Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) and Coalition Partners.

Letter to Congress highlighting the importance of the programs supported by domestic spending and calling on them to work together with the President to protect these programs from further cuts and end sequestration. NDD United.

Letter to President and Congress in support of four principles for Strengthening America’s Values and Economy (SAVE) for All. Federal priorities must (1) protect and assist low-income and vulnerable people; (2) invest in broadly shared economic growth and jobs; (3) increase revenues from fair sources; and (4) seek savings from reducing waste in the Pentagon and elsewhere. Coalition on Human Needs.

New guides and resources to help justice-involved youth transition back to traditional school settings. Includes a guide written for incarcerated youth; a newly updated transition toolkit and resource guide for practitioners in juvenile justice facilities.

This toolkit includes evidence- and research-based practices, tools, and resources that educators, families, facilities, and community agencies can use to better support and improve the long-term outcomes for youth with disabilities in juvenile correctional facilities.

An article about the shift in American juvenile Justices systems as child advocates calls for restorative justice to better keep children out of the adult system. This includes the passage of Paul's Law.

Research discussing the fairness and effectiveness of placing children on probation. Outlines the most common failings of probation orders and offers suggestions for making them age-appropriate, legal, and targeted towards positive development instead of seeking blind compliance.

Estimates based on data released by the FBI in September 2016 show that youth arrests for violent crime are falling, continuing the 20-year decline. Research and data follow the trends of youth violent crime include murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

This policy brief addresses issues of the School-to-Prison Pipeline in discussion with data based on a surveys of seven detention halls across the country, who's finding show that 9 in 10 detained and incarcerated youth were suspended or expelled before entering the justice system.

A Youth Justice Alliance urges the SMART office to: 1) Hold a full public hearing on the proposed guidelines to examine unintended
consequences and alternative approaches that would better serve public safety before finalizing; 2) Convene a task force to study and recommend best practices for youth charged with sex offenses; 3) Revise the guidelines to incentivize evidence-based practices proven to prevent and intervene with sexual harm, and; 4) Move toward implementing a system that both reassures states they will not lose Byrne grant funding if they do not register youth and also discourages state policies that require youth registration.

A diverse and bi-partisan alliance called Just Kids suggests that the SMART Office move towards implementing a system that both reassures states they will not lose Byrne grant funding if they do not register youth and also discourages state policies that require youth registration.

Various researchers with expertise on youth who have committed sexual offenses recommend that the SMART Office emphasize evidence-based treatment rather than registration and waiver as a way to manage youth who have sexually offended.

This report discusses the system by which victims and survivors can be compensated for expenses resulting from their victimization or from the death of a family member. Compensation originates from state statutes and is supplemented by federal funds, which represent one-third of benefits paid. States distribute compensation in the form of reimbursements to eligible victims and survivors whose claims are approved. The financial structure of victim
compensation is problematic at the federal level, where funds are vastly under allocated. While some states have more than enough funds to pay compensation benefits, other state programs are understaffed or suffer from improper methods of accounting.

In the past decade, the Supreme Court has transformed the constitutional landscape of juvenile crime regulation. In three strongly worded opinions, the Court held that imposing harsh criminal sentences on juvenile offenders violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
This report from Models for Change addresses the key issues facing courts and legislatures under this new constitutional regime, and provides guidance based on the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment analysis and on the principles the Court has articulated.

A report by My Brother's Keeper explains how to improve life prospects and opportunities for boys and young men of color. Guidelines are based on a 90 day implementation program to help provide equal opportunities by focusing on specific areas such as education, home environment, and the workforce.

Vision 21 aims to bring more awareness and knowledge about crime victimization. The final report provides recommendations on how to do so through state, local, and federal levels. Through a collaborative effort, data at all levels should be combined, which should bring an end to the research gap that exists on the topic of crime victimization.

Vision 21 expands the knowledge of crime victimization by delving into three areas of research: basic research, program evaluation, and evidence-based practices. These three areas of research exposes the impact of crime on victims and its consequences. Research shows that more focus needs to be put on victims' rights and providing services to them.

There are still ongoing challenges in providing crime victims with the adequate services that they need. Ways to avoid these challenges and lack of resources for crime victims are: conduct and integrate strategic planning on all government levels, provide empirical data, strive for policies regarding crime victim issues, and make sure this field area is equipped with the technology it needs.

A report by My Brother's Keeper explains how to improve life prospects and opportunities for boys and young men of color. Guidelines are based on a 90 day implementation program to help provide equal opportunities by focusing on specific areas such as education, home environment, and the workforce.

Appendix 2 of the Department of Education and Department of Justice's federal guidelines on school discipline. This appendix compiles laws and regulations regarding school climate and school discipline for each state in the U.S., plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) National Center for Trauma-Informed Care assisted the Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention with this report on trauma-informed approaches for women and girls. The report documents the scope and impact of violence and abuse on women and girls and highlights gender-responsive, trauma-informed approaches that more than three dozen federal agencies, departments, and offices have implemented. The report encourages other governmental and nongovernmental agencies to adopt a cross-sector, interagency, intersystem recognition of and response to trauma.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) released this bulletin on the nature and frequency of victimization of youth in residential placement. The study finds that there is an urgent need to create policy and implement programs to better prevent the victimization of youth in residential facilities.

This study seeks to examine important components of our nation’s sex offender tracking and monitoring systems, with a focus on risk assessment and sexual recidivism (measured by re-arrest). On average, we found that the recidivism rate was approximately 5% at five years and 10% at 10 years. AWA tier was unrelated to sexual
recidivism. The findings indicate that the current AWA classification scheme is likely to result in a system that is less
effective in protecting the public than the classification
systems currently implemented in the states studied.

The National Research Council's report brief combines a summary of new research in adolescent developmental psychology with an evaluation of reigning policies in juvenile justice. Based on these materials, the NRC makes recommendations for juvenile justice policy reform.

This bulletin reviews the Northwestern Juvenile Project, the first large-scale, prospective longitudinal study of drug, alcohol, and psychiatric disorders in a diverse sample of juvenile detainees from Cook County, IL.

NJJN applauds President Obama's response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut and his genuine interest in addressing gun violence. Nevertheless, we discourage any increase in police in schools, because of their adverse impact on students and lack of evidence that they improve school safety.

Testimony from the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, Executive Director Nancy Gannon Hornberger; presented to Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights on “Ending the School to Prison Pipeline” Wednesday, December 12, 2012.

The U.S. Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence report makes recommendations to prevent children from exposure to crime, abuse, and violence; and assist those who have been. Includes recommendations to improve the juvenile justice system.

This document summarizes key recommendations from the Attorney General to prevent children from exposure to crime, abuse, and violence; and assist those who have been exposed. Includes recommendations to improve the juvenile justice system. [Executive Summary]

The National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) summarizes the "sequester," the congressional Budget Control Act of 2011, and how projected drastic cuts will affect non-defense discretionary programming -- including many social services that are central to maintaining public safety.

Letter for advocates to send to U.S. Senators to ensure the Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill contained adequate funding for effective and proven juvenile delinquency prevention and community safety programs.

The Court held that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment forbids the mandatory sentencing of life in prison without the possibility of parole for juvenile homicide offenders.

This study seeks to examine important components of our nation’s sex offender tracking and monitoring systems, with a focus on risk assessment and sexual recidivism (measured by re-arrest). On average, the study finds that the recidivism rate was approximately 5% at five years and 10% at 10 years. AWA tier was unrelated to sexual recidivism. The findings indicate that the current AWA classification scheme is likely to result in a system that is less
effective in protecting the public than the classification
systems currently implemented in the states studied.

A new report from RTI International presenting data collected from a multi-site evaluation of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) shows that reentry programs could decrease recidivism.

In the 1980s and 1990s, legislatures in nearly every state expanded transfer laws that allowed or required the prosecution of juveniles in adult criminal courts. This bulletin, which is part of the Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series, provides the latest overview of state transfer laws and practices and examines available state-level data on juveniles adjudicated in the criminal justice system.

Update noting that states are resistant to comply with the Adam Walsh Act, due to the high expense of compliance, the negative public safety and rehabilitation effects of placing youth on registries, and confidence in their own current state laws, many of which have been carefully crafted to assess for actual risk, rather than acting as more blunt offense-based tools.
Additionally, the federal SMART (Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking) office modified the law's guidelines, allowing jurisdictions to exempt youthful offenders from public registries, and place them on private, law enforcement-only registries. In doing so, the SMART office has allowed for a more lenient definition of "substantial implementation" than it indicated it would in the past.

Resolution asserting and reaffirming NCJFCJ's support for the reauthorization, continuation, and strengthening of the federal
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and urging Congress to act to reauthorize and continue the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the independence and authority of OJJDP.

The United States Supreme Court ruled that investigating officers must take the age of suspects into account when deciding whether it is necessary to read them Miranda warnings. The opinion stated that “a child’s age is far ‘more than a chronological fact’” and that “it is beyond dispute that children will often feel bound to submit to police questioning when an adult in the same circumstances would feel free to leave. Seeing no reason for police officers or courts to blind themselves to that commonsense reality, we hold that a child’s age properly informs the Miranda custody analysis.”

Article addressing several key concerns relating to the application of the federal standards of the Adam Walsh Act to adolescent offenders. The article examines the ability of the Adam Walsh Act's classification system to predict future offending over a two-year outcome period. Results indicate that offenders who met criteria for registration did not reoffend (sexually or nonsexually) at a significantly higher rate than those who did not meet registration criteria.

Article gives an overview of the status of the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and the efforts phase out the valid court order (VCO) exception within the Act.

NJJN responded to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Proposed Plan for FY 2010 by outlining seven principles of reform that should guide all programming emerging from this federal office.

In September 2009, a panel of the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that that the retroactive application of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act’s (SORNA) provisions for former youth offenders is punitive and in violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court found that the registration and reporting requirements would affect many adults who were sentenced for sex offenses many years ago when they were youth, and that the requirements threaten “to disrupt the stability of [individuals’] lives and to ostracize them from their communities by drawing attention to decades-old sex offenses committed as juveniles that have, until now, remained sealed.” The court referred to the “pervasive and severe” disadvantages of mandatory registration and the historic confidentiality of juvenile proceedings in its reasoning.

Brief outlining the concept of reentry services in theory and practice, offering a review of federal policy previously enacted to support reentry, suggesting opportunities for improvements in public policy, and reviewing promising initiatives.

PowerPoint presentation discussing the flaws of the Adam Walsh Act in terms of burdens on law enforcement, negative effects on youth and families, and compromises to public safety, and offering recommendations for federal and state policy.

District court order finding that the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is unconstitutional because Congress does not have the power to legislate SORNA under the Commerce Clause of the constitution.

Presentation by Sarah Tofte from Human Rights Watch that discusses the flaws of the Adam Walsh Act in terms of burdens on law enforcement, negative effects on youth and families, and compromises to public safety, and offering recommendations for federal and state policy.

Report providing a chart that shows that for all states, the first-year cost of implementing SORNA outweighs the cost of losing 10 percent of the state's Byrne Grant money (the consequence of not complying with SORNA by July 2009). The sheet also gives detailed information on the cost analyses performed by Ohio and Virginia.

Letter calling for Congress to revise the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) in the following ways: (1) Delete the requirement of lifetime registration for juvenile offenders, who are very different from adult sex offenders in both their development and their risk for reoffense; (2) Require or at least encourage states to adopt a tiered approach to identifying "high risk" offenders based on empirically-based risk factors, such that aggressive notification and internet disclosure would be reserved for high-risk sex offenders; (3) Allow a reasoned process for low-risk offenders to be removed from state and federal registries (4) Adopt a more accurate definition of the term "sexual predator" for the purposes of registration and notification.

The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), first authorized in 1974 and last authorized in 2002, provides states with concrete guidance on how to treat youth who come into conflict with the law. It outlines four core state mandates and creates federal funding streams to assist states in achieving compliance with the Act. The JJDPA was due for reauthorization in 2007.